HCA Healthcare Named a World’s Most Ethical Company for 10th Consecutive Year

NASHVILLE, TN— HCA Healthcare (NYSE: HCA), a leading healthcare provider with 185 hospitals and approximately 1,800 sites of care in 21 states and the United Kingdom, has been recognized for a 10th consecutive year as one of Ethisphere Institute’s World’s Most Ethical Companies. The Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, honors companies who distinguish themselves through integrity, corporate character and marketplace trust. HCA Healthcare is one of 29 companies worldwide to be honored 10 times.

"To be recognized 10 years in a row reflects the culture we have built here at HCA Healthcare," said Sam Hazen, CEO of HCA Healthcare. "We have 265,000 colleagues who share a strong sense of purpose to improve the lives of our patients and to enrich the communities we serve."

HCA Healthcare has a long history of investing in local communities. In 2018, HCA Healthcare donated more than $41 million to charitable organizations and provided charity care, uninsured discounts and other uncompensated care at a cost of $3.3 billion. Last year, HCA Healthcare colleagues spent more than 150,000 hours volunteering in the communities they serve. HCA Healthcare’s culture of inclusion continues to support the delivery of culturally competent care, with affiliates using more than 160 languages and dialects to communicate with their diverse patient populations. As part of its sustainability plan, HCA Healthcare seeks to protect and preserve the environment inside and outside of its facilities by encouraging the reduction of energy usage throughout its facilities and considering the environment in all new construction and renovation projects.

Recognition by Ethisphere is in part affirmation of HCA Healthcare’s robust ethics and compliance program, which includes numerous policies and procedures, orientation and annual code of conduct training for all colleagues, methods for reporting concerns, such as an Ethics Line that is available 24 hours a day, and an innovative process for assessing the effectiveness of compliance efforts in our hospitals. Essential to the success of the program are corporate responsible executives, facility ethics and compliance officers and corporate and facility ethics and compliance committees.

"It is an honor to continue to be recognized as one of Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies and it speaks volumes about our values-based ethics and compliance program, which is a vital part of the way we care for people and conduct business," said Kathi Whalen, HCA Healthcare’s senior vice president and chief ethics and compliance officer. "We believe in doing what is right for our patients and our colleagues, and I’m proud of the positive impact we are having in the communities we serve."

The World's Most Ethical Companies assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient® (EQ) framework, which offers a quantitative way to assess a company’s performance in an objective, consistent and standardized manner. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics.

In 2019, Ethisphere Institute recognized 128 honorees spanning 21 countries and 50 industries. HCA Healthcare is one of only seven healthcare providers honored on this year’s list. The full list of the 2019 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at http://worldsmostethicalcompanies.ethisphere.com/honorees/ .

The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character and measure and improve culture. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies recognition program and provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA). More information about Ethisphere can be found at: https://ethisphere.com.